


we set the pace

by trippslair



Category: 2.43 清陰高校男子バレー部 | 2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu (Anime)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Itoko is the real MVP, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, i still don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 16:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30108930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trippslair/pseuds/trippslair
Summary: Between birthday dates and kisses that leave him with butterflies in his stomach, Yuni thought things couldn't be better between him and Chika. But after Itoko asks if they've ever gone further, he begins to worry Chika has been holding back for him.
Relationships: Haijima Kimichika/Kuroba Yuni
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	we set the pace

**Author's Note:**

> I swear this'll be the last one from me for a while, but I've had so much fun writing these boys. They're precious.
> 
> It's not mentioned in-text, but I imagine them to be third-years in this.

Yuni hopped impatiently from one foot to the other. His mother just _had_ to insist Chika take some birthday cake home to share with his grandparents, and make them wait out by the entrance while she grabbed it.

“I was still planning on eating that,” Yuni mumbled.

Chika glanced at him sideways. “You had two slices already.”

“It’s _my_ birthday, isn’t it?” Yuni crossed his arms and lifted his chin. “I should be allowed at least twice of what everyone else is having.”

“You did have twice as much,” Chika pointed out.

Yuni raised his finger and opened his mouth to protest, then pressed his lips together and huffed. The bastard was right. His mother returned and held out a plastic container for Chika to take.

“As thanks to your grandparents for always taking care of Yuni,” she said. She fixed her son with a look. “Yuni, what do you say?”

He rolled his eyes. “Thanks for coming,” he told Chika, like he was an elementary schooler who had to thank his friends for attending his birthday party. Come to think of it, there might have really been times like this before Chika moved to Tokyo. Only now they were quite a bit older, a lot taller, and Yuni had hoped he could for the first time spend his birthday alone with his boyfriend instead of having to be around his family all day. His parents had thought letting Chika come over was enough of a compromise.

While his mother went back to join everyone in the living room, Yuni looked over her shoulder to make sure the rest of his family was preoccupied. Not an eye on him. He stopped Chika before he could put on his shoes, picked them up, and took Chika’s hand. With a shushing finger to his lips, Yuni led him down the hallway.

“What are we doing?” Chika asked.

“I wanted to get some time to ourselves,” Yuni whispered back. He looked around one last time to see they were alone, and watched out for the single creaking floorboard outside his bedroom before they stepped inside. With the door safely closed behind them, Yuni released a sigh. “They can be a bit much, you know?” As much as he loved his family, they were best enjoyed in small doses.

Chika’s hand swung in his, slender fingers looped through his own. In the other hand, Chika held cake, and Yuni wasn’t sure which was more interesting.

He was in the middle of considering exactly how disrespectful it would be to eat the cake meant for Chika’s grandparents, when Chika cleared his throat. His eyes darted away from Yuni’s face.

“So when you say you want time alone…” He trailed off. A blush dusted his cheeks.

Yuni felt his own face heat up, warmth crawling to the tips of his ears. “I mean, just, you know.” He tugged at Chika’s hand restlessly. “To talk to you?”

“Okay.”

“And maybe…”

Chika’s head shot up, gaze locking starkly onto Yuni’s. “Yes?”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment, air thick with nervous energy before a wired laugh broke like a bubble from Yuni’s lips. He rested his forehead against Chika’s shoulder and felt laughter resonate there, too.

“I wanted Itoko to stop hogging you,” he whinged.

Chika put his hand on the back of Yuni’s head, fingertips grazing his scalp. “I think she does it to annoy you.”

“I know,” Yuni muttered. And yet she succeeded. He looked up and met Chika’s smile with his own before he leaned in.

“Happy birthday,” Chika said against his lips before kissing him.

Yuni wrapped his arms around Chika’s waist, holding him close. Closer, even, as he parted his lips and deepened the kiss.

In the time they’d been dating, they’d kissed like this a handful of times. The first time—and the second and the third, if they were being honest—had been clumsy and Yuni had broken down laughing when they’d bumped noses and clashed teeth, when he’d tried kissing Chika’s neck and discovered the boy to be exceptionally ticklish there, and when Chika’s hand had not-so-accidentally slipped underneath his shirt and they’d both stopped and stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.

There’d been an unspoken agreement to keep their hands over their clothes after that.

Chika’s lips moved against his and his hands pushed into Yuni’s hair. It was soft, he’d once said. He liked that, he’d said. Yuni would have made fun of it if the feeling of Chika’s fingers running through his hair hadn’t made him shiver in the best way possible.

They parted with a quiet laugh shared between them. Chika’s eyes flicked down to his mouth again, but then he closed them as he leaned their foreheads together. His nose bumped Yuni’s.

“Are you free this weekend?” he asked.

“Yes.” Yuni didn’t have to think about it. He’d make himself free, clear anything from his agenda if it meant making time for Chika.

Chika laughed at his readiness, breath ghosting over Yuni’s lips. “Good. We can go somewhere.”

“Together?”

“Unless you want to bring your family.”

“No.” Yuni nudged their noses together. “Definitely not.” He kissed Chika again, relishing the warmth of Chika’s hands on his face and excited at the promise of their date to come.

That was, until: “Yuni? Are you in here?”

They sprang apart at the voice coming from the hallway and turned at the light tap against the doorframe. By the time Yuni’s mom slid the door open, he’d pushed Chika into the corner of the room, hopefully out of sight, and stepped onto the hallway to keep her from coming in.

“Yes?” Yuni mussed his hair only so she wouldn’t notice that someone else had made a mess of it already.

She raised an eyebrow, and an amused crinkle appeared at the corners of her eyes. Yuni didn’t want to know what she was thinking. “We were wondering where you’d gone. The birthday boy isn’t supposed to leave his own party.”

“Right.” He coughed to clear his throat. “It’s that, ah, I remembered I had to finish something for school. It won’t take much longer. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” She smiled. “Don’t overwork yourself.”

“I won’t,” he said as she left. He stepped back into the room and let his head hang, blush coming in full force. “That was close.” He didn’t think he’d get in trouble for sneaking Chika back to his room, but the embarrassment alone might be enough to kill him.

“You should go back,” Chika said quietly, wary of anyone who might be eavesdropping.

“Do I?”

“You heard they’re waiting for you.”

Yuni frowned. “Fine.” As Chika started for the doorway, though, he stopped him. “Erm. About that.” He glanced behind them.

Chika followed Yuni’s gaze and narrowed his eyes. “You’re seriously making me leave through the window,” he inferred.

“I’m sorry, okay? But my parents think you left”—he checked the clock over his door—“fifteen minutes ago. It’s been that long?” Now wasn’t the moment to dwell on the passage of time when you were having fun. He shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

Chika pretended to glare at him for another moment. “You’re lucky it’s your birthday,” he grumbled as he headed for the window. He sat on the windowsill to put on his shoes. Yuni handed him the plastic container with cake, and Chika swung his legs over to the other side. “I’ll text you about this weekend.”

Yuni grinned wide. “I can’t wait.”

* * *

“Don’t you have any shame?” Yuni asked his cousin. Itoko lay with her feet propped up on the back of the couch, changed into shorts and a top that didn’t leave much to the imagination. “I could have had Haijima with me.”

“Scared I’m going to steal your boyfriend?” she asked, mouth twisted into a teasing smile. She sat up and crossed her legs. “I’m surprised he’s not here. You’re usually joined at the hip.”

“We are not,” Yuni insisted. Sure, they spent a lot of time together at practice, and walking to and from school. Going into the city when either of them needed something, or going over to do homework at each other’s places. But they’d been that way before they started dating. Yuni never thought much of it. Until now. He frowned. “Are we?”

Itoko laughed. “I’m teasing. You know I think you two are cute.”

Yuni’s cheeks warmed. “Yeah, so you’ve said,” he said through pursed lips.

Even though they’d been dating for a few months, and his family had found out soon enough, it still felt weird to talk about it with any of them.

At least Itoko wasn’t as awkward as his parents had been in the beginning. While they stared at him, unblinking, she had hit her fist in her hand and yelled “I knew it!” It’d broken the tension. His mom had laughed as his dad shook his head with a wry smile on his face, while Yuni had wished for the floor to open up and swallow him whole. The next time Chika came over, Yuni wasn’t sure which of them had been more horrified with the not-so-subtle glances his parents kept throwing them.

“How are things going anyway?” Itoko asked as Yuni took a seat on the other end of the couch.

He lifted his shoulders. “Fine, I guess.” A smile wormed its way unbidden onto his face. “We went to the aquarium last weekend.”

“Ooh, a birthday date?” Itoko bounced in her seat. “Good for you!”

At some point she’d began living vicariously through Yuni’s relationship, as she quote unquote “was bound by the fates to spend the rest of her own pitiful life tragically single.” The reason for her sorrow had been a recent breakup with her boyfriend, fueled by more than a few sips from one of Yori’s drinks. She would hit Yuni over the head if he so much as hinted at anything that was said or done that particular evening.

But yes, the date had been good. Yuni had come home unable to wipe the grin off his face. His mother had lamented there came a point in any parent’s life that they stopped being the most important person in that of their child. Yuni called her dramatic and took extra care to help her clean up after dinner later.

“So he doesn’t _only_ care about volleyball, then,” Itoko said with a grin.

Yuni scrunched his eyebrows together as he thought about it. “I’d say I’m a close second. On a good day.”

Itoko giggled. “I see.” A notification lit up her phone and she went to unlock it. “And when you’re alone together?” she asked, and typed a message.

Yuni almost choked on his own spit remembering the last time they were, after his birthday party. He didn’t have to guess that his family knew what he’d been up to. “Just… normal?” he said, hoping Itoko wouldn’t notice the squeak in his voice or the blush on his cheeks.

She hummed. She was getting distracted. A few more minutes, if Yuni had to guess, and Itoko would be too absorbed by her messages to pay attention to him. She twirled her hair around her finger, scrolling on her phone with the other hand. She glanced up. “So has he slept over yet?”

“Huh?”

Itoko rolled her eyes, dropping her phone to the couch to give Yuni her undivided attention. “Sex. I’m talking about sex.”

“Eh?!” Yuni spluttered. “That’s not—We’re not—” He shook his head vehemently as blood surged to his face. Not only was it something he’d barely thought about, but it was close to the last thing on earth he wanted to be discussing with his cousin.

Itoko inclined her head. “So? You haven’t done it yet?” She raised an eyebrow suggestively, impish grin on her lips. “Not even some hands stuff?”

Yuni hid his face in his hands as he shook his head, trying to drown out the images that’d flashed in his mind then. Blood rushed in his ears. When Itoko doubled over laughing, he peeked out between his fingers, grumbling, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Kind of a lot,” she said between chuckles.

Yuni took a deep breath, willing his cheeks to cool down. Itoko was trying to get a rise out of him. He couldn’t let her.

But now he _was_ thinking about it. More precisely, he was wondering if Chika had been thinking about it. Sex wasn’t something they’d talked about before. It didn’t exactly come up naturally. They’d made out a couple of times, but Yuni had been happy leaving it at that, and he’d assumed Chika was on the same page for the time being.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was usually Chika initiating anything. Chika was the one who kissed him. He was the one who curled his fingers in Yuni’s hair and pulled him close. Who let his hands wander on more than one occasion. Now, as much as they joked about Chika’s obsession with volleyball, Yuni was starting to think it might not be the only thing on the boy’s mind.

Yuni twisted his fingers into the cuffs of his joggers, avoiding Itoko’s gaze. “We haven’t,” he said to answer her question. “Is that… weird?”

They’d been together for a while now, had known each other for so many years prior to that. He’d overheard classmates talking about sleeping with their girlfriends, but mostly considered it something that didn’t concern him.

“I don’t think it’s weird,” Itoko said, tilting her head. After a moment, she added, “So, do you want to?”

“I’m not sure.”

She poked his knee, offering him a smile when he looked up. “Hey. That’s fine.”

Yet Yuni couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right. He liked Chika. He liked being near him, whether they were busy at practice or talking on the train or at home each doing their own thing.

He liked kissing Chika.

So he didn’t understand why imagining anything past that made his stomach turn up in knots.

“The last training camp we went on,” he said, “the other guys were joking about it.”

Yuni had been a mess trying to convince them nothing would be happening, but Chika hadn’t so much as acknowledged their jabs. Had he been thinking about it then?

Yuni bit his cheek. “It’s like everyone expects it except for us.” Or was it just him?

Itoko shrugged, unfazed. “Let them. You only have to worry about what _you_ want, don’t you? It’s your relationship, not anyone else’s. Well. Yours and Haijima’s, that is.”

“I guess,” Yuni said, but he wasn’t wholly convinced. What if Chika had been waiting for him to do something? What if he’d get bored with him if he didn’t?

“I’m serious, Yuni. Talk to him if you want to know how he feels.”

“Yeah.” He’d be too embarrassed to do that. He tried to shake the thoughts from his head. “So, have you…” he started, before he changed his mind and held up his hands. “No. Stop. Don’t answer that.”

Itoko flashed a Cheshire grin in response.

* * *

When midterms came up and Yuni’s math notes looked a mess with too many letters littering the page, he practically begged Chika to let him come over and study together after school.

“I might burn everything up if I’m left by myself,” he’d said, only somewhat exaggerating. The day before, he’d stood at the open window in class and considered throwing everything out to be swept away by the wind. He couldn’t study if he didn’t have notes. And if he got a bad grade because he hadn’t studied, then at least he had an excuse.

Chika had agreed with a shake of his head and an amused smile playing on his lips.

Not even an hour into studying, Yuni put his head down on his crossed arms. “I give up.”

“You can’t,” said Chika. He tapped the back of his pencil against his lip as he pondered over his own work. “You’ll have to take supplementary lessons if you fail.”

Yuni huffed. It wasn’t his poor grades Chika cared so much about as it was that the lessons would interfere with volleyball practice. He pressed his chin up on his hand. “So how are you doing in modern lit these days?”

Chika flicked an eraser across the table, hitting Yuni’s forehead.

“Hey!” He rubbed the spot before throwing the eraser back, hitting Chika’s shoulder. He grabbed his pen to throw next when the door to Chika’s bedroom opened.

Chika’s grandmother gave them a bemused look. “It looks like you’re working hard,” she said.

“Some of us are,” Chika muttered, earning him a grunt from Yuni. He stood to take the tray his grandmother had brought with tea and two slices of cake. “Thank you.”

Staring at the snacks, Yuni didn’t pay much attention as she told her grandson she was stepping out for a bit to go see the neighbors.

“You can take anything you need from the kitchen,” she told them.

The thought of more food did grab Yuni’s attention, and he remembered his manners long enough to thank her before she left.

“Break time?” he asked, already reaching for the cake.

Chika watched him with a smile. “Sure.”

While they ate forkfuls of delicious, sweet cake, Yuni wasn’t thinking about the fact that Chika’s grandmother had left them alone in the house for the next few hours. His eyes didn’t follow Chika as he got up to grab something off his desk, and his gaze certainly didn’t linger on the speck of cream on the corner of the boy’s mouth.

His talk with Itoko from the other day wasn’t on his mind at all.

Except maybe a little bit.

When Chika caught him staring, Yuni’s cheeks burned and he sputtered “You’ve got, erm, something” pointing at his own mouth. Chika wiped it away with his thumb.

Nope. Definitely not thinking about it, Yuni told himself as he drowned himself in tea.

They cleared the table to, much to Yuni’s dismay, get back to studying.

Not even five minutes later he ran his hands through his hair, irritated at another calculation not making sense. Chika heaved a sigh before he asked, “Can I help?”

“You know how they say that if someone dies during the exam, they have to pass all the students?”

“We’re not even in the same class,” Chika pointed out. “So I don’t think that’d work.”

Yuni groaned. He motioned for Chika to come over to his side of the table. “You can _try_.” He pushed his notebook out in front of them.

He still wasn’t thinking about it.

Chika leaned in close to write down notes to explain the problem to him, but Yuni didn’t hear a word of it. Every one of his senses was attuned to the warmth of Chika’s shoulder against his, the steady drone of his voice, and the smell of rain still on his hair from when they’d walked home.

“Are you listening?”

Yuni thought it answer enough when he looked up, momentarily forgotten where he was at all, and kissed him. Chika’s lips still tasted of the tea they’d had.

Chika pulled back with an amused scoff. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“You’d be right.” Yuni pressed their lips together again.

He wanted to think about it. He wanted to take Chika’s face in his hands and pull him close, take control as he moved to straddle Chika’s legs. Yuni wanted to shiver at the brush of Chika’s hands up his arms and his fingers at the nape of his neck. He wanted to kiss Chika’s mouth, his jaw, the spot below his ear just to hear the surprised sound Chika made as he shirked away.

Yuni chuckled. Still ticklish.

He swept his thumb over Chika’s cheek before pressing their mouths together again in a deeper kiss. His other hand slipped beneath Chika’s shirt and traveled up smooth skin.

For the second time, Chika pulled away to look at him. Yuni’s stomach was in knots, but he didn’t hate the feeling.

With his hand against Chika’s chest, Yuni felt the boy’s rapid heartbeat like an echo to his own. They shared a look, glanced down at the position they were in, and if Yuni could grow any warmer he would have. A similar flush traveled up Chika’s neck to dye his cheeks red.

“What are we doing?” Chika asked, voice a bit uneven. Yuni took him in. Hair disheveled where he’d ran his hands through it. Pupils blown and lips parted.

No way was he the only one thinking about it.

“Don’t you want this?” he asked, fighting the thrill edging into his own voice. He kept his eyes down, watching his own hand as thought detached from his body as it trailed to Chika’s side and gripped his waist.

“Yes, but…”

He pinched the hem of Chika’s shirt between his fingers. “Can I take this off?” he asked. He was surprised how good he’d gotten at faking more confidence than he felt.

Chika’s eyes scanned his face like he was searching for something. Yuni couldn’t tell if he’d found it before he said, “Okay.”

He was careful not to let his hands wander as he pulled Chika’s shirt over his head. Or, tried to, until Chika’s glasses caught in the fabric and his arms got tangled, and the muscles in his stomach clenched as he laughed.

“M’sorry,” Yuni mumbled, hands fumbling, which only made Chika laugh harder.

Chika finally wormed himself out of his shirt and dropped it on the floor next to them.

“That went well,” he said.

Yuni shoved his shoulder, laughing. “Shut up!”

He said yes when Chika asked if he could take off his shirt, and it was ridiculous because they were constantly getting changed in front of each other, but he averted his eyes as Chika’s traveled down his body.

To keep from freaking out, Yuni kissed Chika again. Softly, bringing them both back to something more familiar as he cautiously allowed his hands to wander the dips and divots of Chika’s chest. Yuni touched his fingers to the ribcage housing Chika’s thumping heart and splayed a hand against the expanse of his back. It worked until Chika shifted and made a low sound in the back of his throat, buzzing against Yuni’s lips.

Yuni pulled back and held up his hands as though Chika had burned him. Nerves rolled off him in waves. “I’ve never… like this…” he stammered. He wasn’t even sure what he was getting at, but Chika seemed to understand well enough.

He leveled his eyes at Yuni. “I think I’d be offended if you had and I didn’t know about it,” he stated plainly.

Yuni stumbled. Remembering what Itoko had said about them being joined at the hip, he begrudgingly agreed.

“And,” said Chika, a quiver creeping into his own voice, “me neither.”

A lightness filled Yuni’s chest. It wasn’t often that Chika was just as inexperienced at something as he was, seeming just as helpless. No matter what anyone else had to say, they were both as new at this as they had been the first time they kissed, or the first time they told their teammates they were dating. There was room for more firsts.

Chika kissed him, fingers trailing down to his neck (not as ticklish as Chika’s) and along his collarbone. His hands landed warm on Yuni’s hips. His fingers brushed the skin above the waistband of his pants. Yuni’s heart lurched.

His hands trembled as he brought them to Chika’s belt. His entire body burned, and his breathing turned a little erratic. He seemed to forget what even he was doing. When Chika took a hold of his hands, Yuni’s first reaction was to swat him away.

“No, I…” he began. He wanted this. He _was_ ready. Wasn’t he?

Chika closed his fingers around Yuni’s, and only now did he notice Chika’s hands were shaking just as hard. A nervous chuckle escaped Chika’s lips as he breathed in and admitted, “I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

“Oh.” Yuni blinked. “Okay.”

A line formed between Chika’s eyebrows. “I’m sorry?”

Yuni shook his head. Even his weak laugh sounded suddenly too loud in the quiet room. “No. Not at all.” After an awkward moment, he moved off Chika and pulled his discarded shirt into his lap. He felt suddenly exposed and couldn’t meet Chika’s eyes. “You’re not just saying that to give me an out?” he asked sheepishly.

“No,” Chika answered, so fast Yuni couldn’t doubt it was true. He tapped his knuckles against Yuni’s knee to make him look up. “And even if I did,” he suggested, “would that be so bad?”

“I guess not,” Yuni said, eyes cutting away again. He fidgeted with the shirt in his hands. “But I thought you wanted this. That you were waiting for me to, maybe…” He groaned as he buried his face in his shirt. “Damn, this is so uncool.”

Chika tried to pull the shirt away. “It’s not,” he said.

Yuni finally met his eyes. He pressed his lips together. “I’m still embarrassed,” he muttered. He put on his shirt and tugged at the hem.

“What made you think that?” Chika asked, eyebrows furrowed. “That I wanted us to do this now?”

A fresh wave of embarrassment came over Yuni. He turned his head away and furtively scanned the room for the nearest exit. “Nothing,” he squeaked. The window would do.

“Kuroba.”

He threw up his hands. “Just… I was talking to Itoko and… it sort of came up?”

Confusion merged with curiosity as Chika asked, “You talk about us to your cousin?”

“I-to-ko! The younger one. Not Yori.” That would be a whole other kind of torture. Yuni sighed. “If I’d actually listened to her, I would have tried talking to you about this instead of…” He eyed Chika’s still bare chest and felt his blush come back. “Yeah.”

It was Chika’s turn to be flustered. He rubbed his neck. “It’s not that I don’t want to do more with you, maybe.”

Oh? Yuni cracked a smile. “Maybe?” he questioned.

Chika hit him with his shirt before he put it on. “Yes, maybe.” He shrugged. “If you don’t mind taking some more time to figure it out.”

“I don’t,” Yuni was quick to say. Relief filled him like a breath of fresh air after being underwater for too long. “I really don’t.”

* * *

They took a longer break from studying to play video games and push out the thinnest layer of tension that’d remained like stratus clouds overhead. Barely there, but you couldn’t stop worrying they’d grow into something more ominous. Yuni was glad to find they could still sit close together, and that he could nudge Chika between the ribs to distract him enough to win without it becoming awkward.

By the time Chika’s grandmother got back, both boys were sat at opposite ends of the table and the sound of pencil-scratching filled the room once more. At least until Yuni slammed his notebook shut and announced, “I’m done.”

“Done as in you’re finished, or you’re tapping out?”

“Finished. Somehow.” Yuni couldn’t quite believe it himself. He leaned his elbows on the table to look at what Chika was doing, and frowned. “That’s not homework.”

“I’m writing up new training regimens for everyone,” he explained.

“Go easy on mine, okay?”

“I’m adding a three-kilometer run now because you said that.”

“Oi!” Yuni scrambled for the notebook, but Chika was faster to hold it out of reach.

“Do you want to go for five?” he challenged.

Yuni narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t do that.”

“How confidently can you say that?”

He wasn’t going to risk it.

He put his homework away, seconds stretching out in front of him as he thought about what came next. He should probably head home soon. But instead of gathering his things, Yuni stood and sat back down by Chika’s side. He propped his chin on Chika’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around his waist.

“What are you doing?” Chika asked. He jotted down something else and turned over the page.

“Hugging you,” Yuni mumbled into his shoulder.

Chika hummed, and Yuni smiled as the boy ever so slightly relaxed into him, warm against his chest.

The string of words that made the way to the front of Yuni’s mind rolled off his tongue before he could second guess them. “I think I love you.”

His mouth went immediately dry, and his heart jackhammered in his chest. He was certain Chika could hear, if not feel it against the back of his own ribcage. He’d stopped writing.

Nothing for a moment. The silence was unnerving, and Yuni began to wish he could rewind time and take it back. They’d only just agreed to take things at their pace, and here he was blurting out—

“I love you too.”

Yuni’s heart skipped a beat. He buried his face in Chika’s shoulder, hair tickling Chika’s neck until he tried to squirm away. Yuni held tight.

“Wh—You said it first!” cried Chika.

“I said I _think_!”

“Is that not the same thing?”

“Doesn’t matter!”

It was one more thing for them to figure out. It was new and exhilarating and altogether terrifying. The good kind of terrifying—the best kind. The kind Yuni felt the night before the start of a competition, when he didn’t know how everything was going to turn out but there were endless possibilities at his fingertips.

“You’re weird,” Chika said, humor lacing his voice. He went back to writing.

Yuni pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Like always, Chika would be there to see it through with him.

“But you love it,” he said, finding it difficult to speak when he was smiling so wide.

With his free hand, Chika took Yuni’s and laced their fingers together. “Yes,” he said simply.

Yuni didn’t know what tomorrow held, or the day after, let alone the rest of their time together. He didn’t know what steps they’d be taking, or when. But they had time to figure it out the way they always had, with ups and downs, pushes and setbacks.

And maybe with a little more well-intended advice from his cousin.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks for reading! Comments/kudos greatly appreciated 😶
> 
> I occasionally yell about 2.43 on [twitter](https://twitter.com/tim_nah).


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